Ore exports: Odisha steelmakers in a quandary

| | BHUBANESWAR
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Ore exports: Odisha steelmakers in a quandary

Saturday, 05 June 2021 | NAlINI SAHU | BHUBANESWAR

The steel industries sector which has been declared as an emergency commercial activity during the Covid pandemic ostensibly to keep the national and State coffers in good shape, is facing acute shortage of iron ore in Odisha. The major reason for the scarcity of the mineral is its rampant inter-State export.

Apprehending gloomy days ahead, the Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association, a leading body of steel producers, has requested the State Government for immediate intervention in the matter to protect the industry as well as thousands of employments created by it in the State.“

Currently, the installed plants in the State need about 81.40 milliontonnes per annum (mtpa) of high-grade iron ore after deducting supplyfrom captive mines, which has become impossible to source because of rampant inter-State export of iron ore outside the State, making it very challenging for Odisha based end use plants to secure ore availability at reasonable prices,” the association wrote in a letter to the Principal Secretary, Department of Steel and Mines, Odisha.

The body said the mindless inter-State export of iron ore has led to substantial surge in price of the mineral within a year, hitting the viability of several industries.

Once the steel industries sector become unviable, nearly five lakh people directly or indirectly employed in them will lose their jobs. Both the Union Government and State administration earns thousands of crores rupees from the mining sector and steel production units in the form of royalties on minerals and excise duties.

The Odisha Government alone earns around Rs 30,000 crore mining revenue. “The situation is very grim as a majority of merchant miners are profiteering by exporting ore outside the State causing huge loss to Odisha and Odisha-based end use plants which generate much larger employment for Odia people and larger revenue to the State exchequer,” the letter added.

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